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Former Tottenham star becomes first player to be punished with new rule this season Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Will Lankshear made his debut for Middlesbrough after leaving north London on a permanent deal Former Tottenham Hotspur star Will Lankshear became the first player to be penalised through a new rule which has been introduced for this season. Spurs recently sold Lankshear to Middlesbrough on a permanent deal. Tottenham confirmed on July 22 that Lankshear had signed for Boro on a permanent deal, having spent last season on loan with Oxford United. Lankshear has signed a long-term contract to join Boro, with reports suggesting the fee will be an initial £10million plus a further £10million in add-ons. Friday night saw Lankshear make his debut for Middlesbrough as they faced Wrexham in the first round of the Carabao Cup, and it was a mixed evening for the former Spurs star. Lankshear scored the only goal as Boro claimed a 1-0 victory over Wrexham to progress to the next round, but it was not a perfect night for the former Tottenham striker. Boro boss Kim Hellberg chose to substitute Lankshear in the 81st minute at the Riverside, but the former Spurs star went on to be penalised for the EFL’s new time-wasting rules that will be in place for the upcoming campaign. As Lankshear exited the pitch, the 21-year-old applauded his new supporters at the Riverside, but was deemed to have broken the new time-wasting rules, which force players not to take longer than 10 seconds to leave the pitch while being substituted. Should a player be penalised under the new rule, their replacement will be forced to wait one minute before being able to enter the match, briefly leaving their team with a tactical disadvantage. FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE! Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page As a result of the breach of the new rule, Lankshear’s replacement, Fin Cartwright, was forced to wait a whole 60 seconds after the former Tottenham star’s exit to be able to take to the pitch. After Lankshear played a key role in helping Boro claim a victory on debut, Hellberg praised his new signing and tipped him for a bright future. “He did a very strong season at Oxford in a different system and different way of playing, which I think he will have learned a lot from,” Hellberg said, via Teesside Live. “You could see how active he was [against Wrexham], both offensively and defensively, which I think was a major step forward from last week [against Espanyol]. “He has been with us for around two weeks and he will just keep on improving. He wants to learn and improve, and that’s the type of player I love working with.”